- Theology and Identity
- Season 1
- Episode 10
- Airdate: 29 March 2024
- Please note this is a script, and not a transcript. There may be slight differences between this text and the actual broadcast.
- All Bible quotations taken from the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)
Audio Links:
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In season 1 of this podcast, I’m working may way through the Old Testament in order to better understand the character of YHWH develops across the texts, and how the understanding of God’s character would have shaped the identity of the Hebrew readers.
What we’ve seen so far is that YHWH has made a promise to the people of Israel. As the descendants of Abraham, his vision is to bless them and make them a great nation. Then, as the nation of Israel flourishes, the idea is that they will draw all the nations of the earth to worship YHWH. But there’s a condition attached. In order to fully become the blessed and thriving nation that YHWH needs them to be – the people of Israel must keep the covenant that YHWH made with them through Moses. They must choose to love God with all of their heart, soul and strength. They must carefully obey his commands. When they obey, then they will thrive, and then through them all the nations will come to relationship with YHWH.
So a lot is riding on the people of Israel. YHWH really needs them to honour their part of the bargain so that his plan to bless all the families of the earth can be fulfilled.
But what we’ve been seeing throughout the OT story is that the people of Israel have really struggled. After coming into the land of Canaan, they got off to a terrible start during the era of the judges. God then agreed to give them a king, but their first leader Saul was a disaster. He was followed by David – and it was at this point in the narrative that we had a glimmer of hope. David was a genuine man of God. YHWH promised to give him a son who would build the temple, strengthen the kingdom, and lead the people toward covenant faithfulness. When David’s son Solomon became king, everything seemed to be on track. But then everything went wrong for Solomon. As we saw in episode 8, he enslaved and oppressed the people of the land, he was a sex addict, he worshipped idols, and he even sacrificed his own children.
So after Solomon died, the kingdom split in two. Solomon’s son Rehoboam ruled the kingdom of Judah, and a guy named Jeroboam became the king of the Northern tribes. Now God was setting his hopes on these men. Perhaps they would learn from the mistakes of Solomon and get things back on track. But unfortunately, as we saw in episode 9, things only got worse. In the North, Jeroboam instituted a system of national idolatry that would set the Northern kingdom on a path of faithlessness that would ultimately lead to their destruction.
So that’s where we left off at the last episode.
So now of course you’re asking yourself the question, how in the world does all of these lead up to a story about masturbation?
The short answer is that – in the text we’ll look at today - this lurid sexual act is a symbol of Israel’s betrayal. Generation after generation of faithlessness have left YHWH in a state of frustration. He’s verbally lashing out at the people Israel because he’s angry, and above all, his heart in broken.
YHWH is trying to make the people of Israel understand how exactly he feels. And the bottom line is that YHWH feels like a husband whose wife has committed adultery.
It was the prophet Ezekiel graphic and disturbing story.
Ezekiel chapter 16 is an allegory about a man who was betrayed by his wife. It’s a fictional story that is meant to parallel real-life events and circumstances. What is particularly interesting about this allegory is that in the text, its not presented as a story being told by Ezekiel. Rather, this allegory comes as ‘the word of the Lord’ something that YHWH himself dictated to Ezekiel. Its YHWH speaking in the first person. And what we see her is that he is willing to use very graphic, disturbing, sexualised imagery in order to get his message across.
So lets go to Ezekiel 16 to see how this story develops. I’m going to walk you through the major points of the chapter, interspersed with passages directly from the text.
The story begins with an abandoned baby. We know that In ancient times, before the advent of surgical abortions, unwanted babies were brought to full term, delivered, and then simply left in the fields to die.
So the story begins with the account of a baby who had been abandoned by her parents.
Verse 4
And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. [1]
This abandon baby represents the people of Israel.
YHWH portrays himself as a young man who passes by and takes pity upon this helpless little baby
Verse 6
And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’[2]
He takes her home and provides for her needs. He clothes her and covers her shame
Verse 7
I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness[3]
Then, as she grows, she becomes a beautiful young woman. He falls in love with her and takes her as his wife.
Verse 8
I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.[4]
The imagery that emerges is that of a man who rejoices in the woman he has taken as his own.
Verse 10
10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.[5]
Soon, this beautiful young woman became famous among the nations. Under the care of her loving husband, she had become the most beautiful woman in the world
Verse 14
And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God. [6]
But then something started to go wrong. All of the attention and praise went to her head. She discovered that men were interested in her. Perhaps these men who were younger and more attractive than her husband. So she starts to play around
Verse 15
But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his.[7]
Over time, her sexual adventures became more exotic. Taking some of the beautiful clothing that her husband had given her, she built paganistic tents where she would have sex with her lovers.
And then comes the most graphic and disturbing part. I’m going to read these verses as they appear in the ESV, and then we’re going to do some in depth analysis on what they say.
Verse 17 and this is the ESV
In Ezekiel 16: 17 it says: You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore[8]
Now is one translation, and its similar to the most other modern English translations. But I fear that this translation is missing the point. It seems to be saying that they made idols resembling men, and worshipped them.
But the truth may be that in the original Hebrew, the language here is much more graphic.
This phrase reads Vatashi leka tzelemèy zacar, vat tizni vam
Literally, you crafted for yourself male objects and performed sexual acts with them.
As I’ve researched this phrase in the Hebrew, it has become to clear to that thse ‘male object’ - tzelemèy zacar refers to the male sexual organ.
Most Christian Bible translators are too afraid to illuminate the pornographic nature of this verse. But there is a translation of Ezekiel from the Jewish Publication Society which is more bold and more accurate:
You took your beautiful things, made of the gold and silver that I had given you, and you made yourself phallic images and fornicated with them.
This is what today we would refer to as masturbation.
So lets let this sink in a bit.
A man gives his wife beautiful costly jewelery made of silver and gold. She melts it down, crafts into a sex toy, and uses it to masturbate.
That’s pretty shocking. Especially if you think about the fact that in Ezekiel 16, this is God himself speaking here.
But the story goes on. Let’s go back to the passage
Not only does this woman masturbate with these phallic objects she’s crafted, she starts to worship them:
Verse 18
18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma;
But its not over yet!
This woman, and the man who had rescued her as a baby – had children of their own.
In the story, the woman goes on to sacrifice their children to these mini phallic idols that she had been worshipping:
Verse 20
And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood. [9]
And from this point on, the woman totally loses her mind. She becomes a fully committed prostitute.
She builds brothels across the land where she can offer her services.
She sits out on the street to draw in customers. In verse 25 it says ‘you spread your legs to anyone passing by’
And then, when that wasn’t enough to draw in enough customers, she started offering her services for free, and even giving gifts to the men who would come to her:
Verse 33
but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you;[10]
And at this point in Ezekiel 16, the text moves away from the allegory into a declaration of God’s judgment upon the people of Israel.
But the good news is that the chapter does end on a happy note. After going into graphic detail on how much the sin of Israel has hurt him and how he will pour out his anger, YHWH declares that a time of renewal will come to Israel. He made a promise to Abraham that he has to fulfil. He does not the have the option of divorce. He is bound by a covenant to the people of Israel.
In vs 62 he says:
I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” [11]
So this passage gives us a lot to digest.
The first question that I want to address is this: is there any outside evidence that the practice of idolatry was this flagrant in ancient Israel? This passage makes the people of Israel appear really, really evil. Was it really this bad?
I want to remind you as my listeners here, that is that my primary focus in this podcast has been on the biblical narrative itself. I’ve not been trying to prove that certain events happened, nor have I been trying to disprove anything. I just want us to understand the power of the story.
But there are moments the archaeological records provide us some insight into the context from which these stories emerged. And that can be really helpful for us in understanding what was going on.
So what do the archaeological records tell us about the practice of idol worship in ancient Israel. Was it this bad, or are the biblical authors exaggerating, making a big deal about something which really wasn’t a common problem?
The answer might surprise you.
If a person were to survey the archaeological evidence in Israel from 1000 BC to 500 BC, without any knowledge or reference to the Bible, they would find no evidence that the people of Israel were monotheistic, that is, that they worshipped one God.
In contrast, there abundant evidence across the record that the people of Israel worshipped multiple gods in the form of idols.
This person would find that among other gods, the people of Israel did worship a god named YHWH. The main evidence for this is found in the personal names which are known by clay seals and inscriptions, and also a few inscriptions mentioning the name of YHWH.
But as far as material evidence pointing to the worship practices of people in ancient Israel, everything seems to indicate that the vast majority practiced polytheism– worshipping the god YHWH amidst numerous other gods.
The archaeologist William Dever has written a book entitled ‘The lives of ordinary people in ancient Israel’ which gives some fascinating insights into the record.
Dever concludes that ordinary people in ancient Israel practiced ‘folk religion’. Their religious practice include rituals at public shrines where they could offer sacrifices and libations to various gods. But the real centre of ritual practice in ancient Israel seemed to be the home. Indications are that that the vast majority if not all homes in Israel had their own mini shrines, where it was probably the women who led their families in the daily rituals. Dever points to excavations in the town of Beersheba, where in several houses they found chalices, figurine and even barbie-like furniture for this little gods. Just at Beersheba, they found 54 anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines. In addition to these were found other cultic objects such as bowls and jars and offering stands. Dever suggests that among the religious practices that went on in these homes were fertility rites, blessings for animals and lands, and of course prayers to the multiple gods that the Israelites worshipped.
But Beersheba is just one example among many. Dever notes that in excavations from Israelite and Judean homes from 12th - 6th century BC, archaeologist have discovered over 3000 figurines. And these were not just household toys. Most often, they were representations of the fertility goddesses Asherah and Astarte. He notes that the purposes of these household deities was to bring fertility and to protect women in the process of giving birth.
These small figurine were about 6 inches tall. In the image that accompanies this podcast, I’m showing you a picture that I took at the Israel museum, showing figurines that were found in Jerusalem, Beersheba, and other parts of Judah. Mini idols like this were actually found in wealthy homes within eyeshot of the temple. Every body had these.
So putting all this together, Dever, who is not a Christian, concludes that the people of ancient Israel were really no different than the other nations around them. They worshipped many gods, primarily in their homes but also at shrines, and among these many gods being worshipped was a god named YHWH. Based on the evidence, he doesn’t believe that the worship of YHWH was ever really the accepted, normative religion of the Hebrew people during this time period.
What’s interesting about all of this is that on the matter of worship practices in ancient Israel, Dever and the prophet Ezekiel actually seem to agree. What the material evidence tells us is that the people of ancient Israel worshipped many gods. What Ezekiel 16 tells us is that the people of ancient Israel worshipped many gods.
But what the Biblical offers is something the archaeological evidence can never reveal. The Biblical text portrays how the practice of idolatry in ancient Israel made YHWH feel .
And the main point here is that this practice caused him deep pain. It broke his heart.
To conclude, I want to briefly reflect on what Ezekiel 16 tells us about the character of YHWH. As described in the text – who is he, and what is he like?
There was a Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel who deeply understood the character of God as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures.
He wrote a book so powerful, that just the title itself moves me deeply. Its called God in search of man.
Think about that, God in search of man.
The God revealed in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures does not give up. He does not give in. He does lose hope. He always finds a way to fulfil the things that he has promised. Even after the people of Israel had wounded him deeply, he kept searching for them.
In Ezekeil 16, this God is portrayed as a man who had been deeply wounded by the woman he loved.
The woman that had once been an abandoned baby.
The woman whose shame he had covered.
The woman whom he had made his wife.
The woman whom he had wonderfully adorned.
The woman who cheated on him.
The woman who took the gifts he had given her, made them into a phallus, and used it to masturbate.
The woman who became a prostitute.
The woman who outdid other prostitutes by paying men to come to her.
And yet this man did not give up on her. He did not let go.
In his relationship with the people of Israel, YHWH never gave up on pursuing healing, on pursuing restoration, on pursuing reconciliation. No matter how badly they had hurt him, he could never stop loving them. And he could never content himself to live without them.
You see the religion of the OT is not presented as the human pursuit of God. It’s presented as God’s pursuit of us. He’s coming after you. He’s coming after me. He is searching for us. And He won’t relent in his pursuit.
That is the God whom the Hebrew Scriptures present.
And on that thought we’ll bring this episode to a close.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:4–5.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:6.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:7–8.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:8–9.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:10–13.
[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:14.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:15.
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:17.
[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:20–22.
[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:33–34.
[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Eze 16:62–63.